During the Austro-Turkish War of 1787–1791, an Austrian army roughly 100,000 strong set up camp near the town of Karánsebes in modern-day Romania. A vanguard of Hussar cavalrymen crossed the Timiș River to scout for Ottoman forces. They found no Turks, but they did run into a group of local traders who offered to sell them barrels of schnapps.
The thirsty cavalrymen happily bought the liquor and began drinking heavily. Shortly after, a detachment of Austrian infantry crossed the river and demanded a share of the schnapps. The Hussars refused, constructing makeshift barricades around the barrels to defend their alcohol.
A heated argument ensued, and in the tension, an anxious soldier fired a musket shot. Instantly, violence erupted between the cavalry and infantry. In the pitch-black darkness, some infantrymen shouted 'Halt!
Halt!' to restore order. However, the multi-ethnic Habsburg army consisted of soldiers who spoke German, Hungarian, Romanian, and Slavic languages.
Non-German-speaking soldiers misheard the desperate shouts of 'Halt!' as 'Allah! Allah!'
, believing the Ottoman Turks had ambushed the camp. Panicked Austrian soldiers began firing wildly at their own comrades. To escalate the catastrophe, a officer ordered artillery cannons to open fire on what he believed was an enemy cavalry charge, but was actually a stampede of terrified Austrian army horses that had broken free.
Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II was thrown from his horse into a stream during the frantic retreat. By the time the actual Ottoman army arrived two days later, they discovered a devastated battlefield covered with thousands of dead and wounded Austrian soldiers, allowing them to capture Karánsebes without firing a single shot.